Defiance (Blu-ray)

Defiance(Blu-ray)

I said in my review of Valkyrie that I was just about done with films surrounding World War II, but occasionally I am a suprised.  Ed Zwick has been a favorite director of mine for a little while (Glory was fantastic), so when I heard he was doing another war picture I figured I would give it a shot.  It also didnt help that Daniel “James Bond” Craig was the star.  Defiance tells the story of the Bielski family, after having their family and village slaughterd by Nazi’s the Bielski’s take to the forrest where with the help of other Jewish refugees start a colony in the forests of Belarus for over two years combating sickness, starvation, and Nazis soldiers.  What sets this WWII story apart from others is the fact this is about regular Jewish people put into extraordinary situations and how they deal with them.

Defiance has a somewhat greenish, gritty look that tends to translate very well in High-Def.  Black levels are dead on and there is plenty of depth in the 1.78:1 framed picture.  As far as the audio goes Paramount had provided us with a Dolby 5.1 TrueHD mix that is excellent when it needs to be, for being a “war film” Defiance is a  rather quiet dialouge driven movie with a couple of big action set pieces.  We also get a few pretty decent extras first up is an audio commentary by director Zwick which is pretty dry.  We also get a few historical featurette’s about the actual events depicted in the film which are worth a watch.   The Blu-ray is a knockout, with a stunning A/V presentation and a few solid bonuses. I’d suggest, if nothing else, giving this film a rent.